Gumming machine



May 23, 1939. G. w. VON HOFE GUMMING MACHINE 'Filed Feb. 1l. 1937 g g t ..s t 1 I INVENTOR.

EEO/V65 WyoA/NOFE a. im/K ATTORNEYS.

May 23, 193 G. w. VON HOFE GUMMING MACHINE FiledFeb. 11, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS.

Patented .May 23, 1939 l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I x I 2.15am

i 'oomnud mounts George W. you note, Bound Brook, N. 3., assignor to New Jersey Machine Corporation, 110- boken, N. 1., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 11, 1937. Serial No. 125,231

5 can... 01. 91-40) The invention relates to gumming machines as exemplified by machines for applying coatings of adhesive to labels and the like and more particularly to relatively small machines of the indicated type commonly referred to as table gummers. The object of the invention is to improve the general construction and arrangement of machines of the aforesaid class and to provide novel and simple means for deflecting the labels or equivalent sheets to the gumming means or more specifically to the adhesive applying roll or equivalent element thereof. The invention contemplates further" an improved and novel arrangement whereby the gumming means for distributing and applying the adhesive may be easily and quickly cleaned, at will, in. an efficient manner. Other objects will appear from the description hereinafter and the features of novelty will be pointedout in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an example of the invention without. defining its limits, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the novel machine; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary central longitudinal section thereof; Fig. 3 is a crosssection on the line 3-3- ofFig. 2; Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a novel tension plate forming part of the machine, and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view of one of the side frames thereof.

In its illustrated form the machine comprises abase III of suitable shape and dimensions on which upright side frames l l are fastened in any convenient manner, as by means ofcustomary bolts or screws l2. The side frames are located in spaced parallel registry with each other and are each provided with upper slots l3 and lower slots 14; as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the slots l3 and I4 extend in perpendicular relation to the base iii in spaced parallel vertical planes for the purpose to be more fully described hereinafter. It will be understood that the slots l3 and ll of the respective side frames H are in registry with each other transversely of the machine.

The machine further includes gumming means which, in the specific example of the machine shownin the drawings, comprises an upper or adhesive applying roll 15 of conventional type carried by a shaft l6 or its equivalent journalled in suitable bearings I'I preferably formingpart of the side frames ll. The gumming means further consists of a lower or adhesive transferring roll [8 located in tangential transferring relation to the upper or adhesive applying roll l5 and carried'by a shaft 1 9 or its equivalent whereby said lower roll I8 is rotatably mounted in operative position. To provide for adjustment of the rolls l5 and I8 relatively to each other to secure the most efficient results, as exemplified by predetermined distribution of adhesive to the upper roll Ii, the shaft l3 or its equivalent may be Journalled in levers 28 pivoted at 2| upon the side frames H as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The levers 28 include extensions 22 terminating at their free ends in internally screwthreaded bosses 23 for the accommodation of adjusting screws 24 provided with heads 25 to facilitate the manipulation of said screws 24; the latter restillustrated example of the machine is provided with means for feeding the labels or equivalent elements to the gumming means during an operative period of the machine. The feeding means may, as shown consist of a lower feed roll 28 rotatably mounted in the side frames II by means of a shaft 29 or its equivalent. The illustrated feeding means further comprises an upper feed roll 38 which cooperates with the lower feed roll 28 and is carried bya shaft 3| or its equivalent journalled in upwardly open bearing slots 32 provided in the side members II. The slots 32 are arranged and dimensioned to permit the upper feed roll 38 to rest by gravity upon the lower feed roll 28 in tangential engagement therewith; with the arrangement set forth the upper feed roll 38 may also be easily lifted from the bearing slots 32 and removed from the machine at will for any reason or purpose. The feed rolls 28 and 30 are located in operative relation to the gumming means and more specifically to the adhesive applying or upper roll l5 thereof for instance as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The gummlng means and the feeding means may be operated in any conventional manner to secure the desired results. For instance, as shownin the drawings, a main drive pinion 33 may be suitably journalled in one of the side frames H by means of a shaft 38 which also carries a main drive pulley 35 or its equivalent, the latter being connected through the medium of a belt or thelike 36 with a motor pulley 31 fixed upon the shaft of an electric 'motor 38 1 mounted upon the base Ill. With this arrange- 4| may be suitably mounted in delivery relation to the feed rolls 28 and 90 for instance by resting upon a cross-bar 42 forming part of the machine and by means of upright supporting rods 43 projecting upwardly from the base l and suitably fixed in placethereon; as shown in Fig. 1 the motor 38 may be located in the space beneath the table 4|.

To increase the efficiency of the machine, a tension plate 44 is mounted in the machine in operative relation to the feed rolls 28-30 and the upper or adhesive applying roll l as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2; the tension plate 44 preferably is removable as a unit from the machine for purposes of cleaning or for other reasons and accordingly may be provided with lugs 45 arranged to fit into recesses '46 formed in the side frames H as shown in Fig. 5. With this arrangement the tension plate 44 is suspended in the recesses 46 and projects downwardly between the upper or adhesive applying roll I5 and the feed rolls 28 and 30. The tension plate 44 is provided with a longitudinal slot 41.10-

cated in the path of the advancing labels or other elements and through which said labels or other equivalents pass in their travel from the feeding means to the gumming means. The lower surface a of the slot 41 is inclined upwardly from the feed roll 28 toward the adhesive applying roll l5 as illustrated in Fig. 2, while the upper surface I) of said slot 4'| preferably slopes downwardly toward the" roll l5 and terminates in an edge e for the purpose to be more fully described hereinafter. Along its lower edge the tension plate 44 is of reduced transverse width to provide a depending extension 48 and a surface a which inclines upwardly toward the surface a into connection therewith to form a relatively sharp edge d extending lengthwise of the plate 44. In the assembled condition of the parts the edge d contacts with the cylindrical surface of the lower feed roll 28 and extends lengthwise thereof for the purpose to be more fully set forth hereinafter. While the tension plate 44, generally speaking, may be held in place in the recesses 46 of the side members H by its own weight, any conventional means may be provided, if desired or necessary, for removably fixing said tension plate 44 in its operative position in the machine. j

In the normal operative condition of the machine the lower or adhesive distributing roll l8 dips into a supply of adhesive and in rotating therethrough gathers adhesive which is distributed to the upper or adhesive applying, roll l5 in the well known way. In the illustrated example the aforesaid supply of adhesive is contained in a pan 49 which is capable of being temporarily lowered at will to an inoperative position in order to permit the gumming means to be readily cleaned at intervals as may be necesterrupted at intervals to form seats 54 for the I 2,159,841 venienceof operation a label pr paper feed tableaccommodation of projections 55 depending from lugs 56 with which the pan 49 is provided. The arrangement and dimensions are such that the pan 49 fits between the flanges 53 and is supported thereon by means of the lugs 56, the projections 55 of which extend into the seats 54 and fix the pan 49 against movement lengthwise of of said members 50; the other ends of the links 51 are pivotally connected at 58 with lifting arms 59 fixed upon ashaft 60 which extends transversely across the machine and is suitably journalled in the side frames II as illustrated in Fig. 3. The one lifting arm 59 preferably comprises an integral part of an operating lever 6| which, at its free end, may be provided with a handle 62 and in addition preferably includes an off-set member 63 which slidably carries .a lockingpin 64 for the purpose to be more fully set forth hereinafter; suitable provision is made to prevent the locking-pin 64 from being unintentionally detached from the member 63, it being understood that the pin 64 is adjustable to an inoperative position in which it does not interfere with the intended operations of the operating lever 6| and associated elements.

For purposes of cleaning the gumming means, the machine includes a. water container or pan 65 slidably mounted upon the adhesive pan 49 and provided with depending longitudinal flanges 66; the latter project downwardly over the pan 49 and in addition to maintaining the water pan 65 in place thereon serve to guide said pan 65 in its movements lengthwise of the adhesive pan 49 for the purpose to be more fully set forth hereinafter. Normally, when the adhesive pan 49 is in its operative raised position the water pan 64 may be positioned at the outer end thereof as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2; if desired, the pair 64 may be combined with the pan-49 only when cleaning of the gumming means is to be effected. In the form shown in the drawings the machine is provided with roll scrapers for removing adhesive unintentionally present on the rolls [5 and I8 and returning it to the adhesive pan 49 or its equivalent. The roll scrapers consist of upper scraper blades 61 and lower scraper blades v68 carried by side members 69 located at opposite ends of the rolls l5 and I8 and supported upon brackets 10 forming part of the side frames I l; as shown the side members 69 may be provided with members ll fastened to the brackets 10 by screws or bolts 12 which serve to removably fix the side members 69 in place in the machine. The upper scraper blades 61 project from the side members 69 into engagement with the end faces of the rolls l5 and I 8. and preferably extend across the point at which the latter are in tangential contact or approximately so; the lower scraper blades 68 extend from the side members 69 into contact with the end faces of the roll l6 and preferably slope downwardly toward the adhesive pan 49. With this arrangement. any adhesive collected upon the end faces of the rolls l5 and It will be scraped therefrom by the blades 61 and 68 and will gather upon the lower blades 68 and from there gradually flow back to the adhesive pan 49.

In describing the operation of the machine 'of simplifying the description and that the term label is intended to cover sheets of paper or other material or any equivalent elements capable of being operatively handled by the machine.

In practice the labels pass from the feed table H to the feed rolls 28 and 30 by which said labels are advanced and caused to enter the slot 41 of the tension plate 44, which slot" is, as previously stated, located in the path of said labels. As the feeding action of the rolls 28 and 30 proceeds, the forward edge of the label will engage the inclined surface a. of the slot 4,1 and will be deflected upwardly thereby to the upper or adhesive applying roll 15; in other words, the label will be deflected in the direction of rotation of the roll l5 and will be easily picked up on the cylindrical surface thereof. In passing over the roll ii the label receives a coating of adhesive therefrom and is then removed from the machine in any conventional manner either automatically or manually. As the labelis picked up by the roll it and gradually fed through the slot 41, it

7 will pass over the edge 0 thereof and accordingly will be subjected to tension; as a result, the label passes to the roll l5 in a smooth condition and the adhesive will be applied to said label as a coating in a uniform and efficient manner. The edge d of the tension bar 4| by engaging the cylindrical surface of the feed roll 28 prevents any labels or their equivalent from being carried von said cylindrical surface as the roll 28 rotates,

or in other words, from being diverted out of their path toward the gumming means; that is to say, the edge d functions as stripping means to assure the passage of the labels or their equivalent t0 the surface a of the slot 41 in the intended manner.

During the aforesaid'operations the lower or adhesive distributing roll l8 rotates through the supply of adhesive contained inthe pan 49, the latter being held in its operative position by means of the locking pin 64 which has been adroll I 8 gathers adhesive which is transferred to 1 the cylindrical surface of the upper roll i 5 in the well known way. In order to maintain the machine and particularly the rolls I5 and 18 in conditions of maximum efliciency, it becomes necessary to periodically clean these rolls by washing the same with water or other suitable cleansing liquid. In existing machines this cleaning operation often necessitates the complete removal of the adhesive rolls from the machine and in any case requires considerable time and effort in its performance.

These objections are entirely avoided in the instant novel machine in which the operation of cleaning the adhesive rolls is reduced to the utmost simplicity and is performed without requiring" the adhesive rolls to be removed from the machine or disturbed in any way. When it is desired to clean the rolls l8 and I5, the lock ng pin 64 is first withdrawn from behind the link 51 after which the latter through the medium of the handle 52 is swung in an arc to the left in Fig. 1 to correspondingly-rock the shaft and thereby swing the arms 59 to the right in Fig. 1. As this occurs, the links 51 will be caused to move downwardly and thereby lower the supporting members 58 and. adhesive pan 8 to an inoperative position at a distance beneath the roll l8; during this downward movement of the parts. the studs SI and 52 travel downwardly in the respective slots I8 and I4 and in co-operation therewith guide the supporting members '1 respondingly moved, the arrangement being such that in the lowered inoperative position of the adhesive pan 48 the water pan will be positioned at a level below the lower or adhesive distributing roll l8. At this stage'the water pan I! may be slidably shifted on the adhesive pan 8 from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to a position beneath and in vertical registry with said adhesive distributing roll l8. The lever 88 is then manipulated in the reverse direction or in other words toward its normal position to corhas been reached, the lever 8| extends diagonallyacross the slot l3 of the adjacent side frame II and in a position to enable the locking pin 64 to be projected into said slot I3 to thereby fix thepan 65 in the aforesaid operative relation to. the roll 18.

With the water pan 65 in the above mentioned adjustment, it is simply necessary to start the machine in operation to thereby cause the lower 7 or adhesive distributing roll l8 to rotate through the water or other cleaning liquid in the pan 65. This will result in a complete and thorough removal of the adhesive from the roll l8 and because of the tangential contact of the roll I8 with the upper or adhesive applying roll l5, will also bring about the removal of the adhesive from said upper roll 15; at the same time any other foreign matter which may be presenton the rolls l8 and I5. will be removed therefrom by the action of the water or other cleaning liquid in the pan 65. In this manner the rolls l8 and I5 will be thoroughly cleaned in a minimum of time and with no effort on the part of the attendant other than the operation of starting and stopping the machine. When the aforesaid cleaning operation has been completed to the satisfaction of the attendant, the locking pin 64 is withdrawn from the slot 13 to an inoperative position on the off-set member 63 to return direction to develop'a lifting action upon the supporting members 58 and to thereby restore the adhesive pan .9 and its associated elements to the normal position shown in Figs. 1

and 2 in which the lower or adhesive distributing roll Hi again dips into the adhesive contained in the pan 49. The locking pin 64 is then adjusted to an operative position in which said pin projects across and in contact with the one link 5'! to thereby lock. the parts in their ad- .justed position and to maintain the adhesive pan 49 in the operative. relation to the roll l8 illustrated in'Figs. l and 2. If it should be necessary or advisable to do so, the supply of adhesive in the pan '49 may be replenished or renewed at any convenient time during the operations described above; likewise, the water pan 65 may be easily removed from the machine and cleaned and-provided with a fresh supply of water or other cleaning liquid at the convenience of the attendant.

The novel construction provides a gumming machine of relatively small dimensions and compact arrangement in which the labels or their equivalent are directed into engagement with the cylindrical surface of the adhesive applying roll in the most emcient manner and so as to guarantee the development of uniform and even coatings of adhesive thereon. In addition, the novel mechanism for effecting the cleaning of the gumming means as exemplified by'the rolls l8 and I5 increases the efliciency of the machine by reducing the cleaning of said adhesive rolls to' a point of utmost simplicity and thereby avoiding long periods of inactivity.

While the novel features are illustrated in connection with and are specially adapted for socalled table gummers, it will be obvious that said novel features may be embodied in any type of gumming machine regardless of size, with equal advantages.

Various changes in the specific forms shown, and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a gumming machine of the kind described, the combination of gumming means including an adhesive distributing roll, side frames each provided with spaced vertical slots, vertically movable supporting members, studs on said members extending into said spaced slots for guiding said supporting members in their vertical movements, a pan for adhesive removablyresting upon said supporting members and suspended thereby for normally supplying said gumming means with adhesive, a pan for cleaning liquid slidably mounted on said adhesive con taining pan, a rock shaft journalled in said side frames, arms carried by said shaft, links connected with said arms and with said sppporting l members, and an operating lever for rocking said cluding an adhesive distributing roll, side frames provided with vertical slots, vertically movable supporting members, studs on said members extending'into said slots for guiding said supporting members in their vertical movements, a pan for adhesive removably resting upon said supporting members andsuspended thereby for normally supplying said gumming means with adhesive, a pan for cleaning liquid slidably mounted on said adhesive containing pan, a rock shaft journalied in said side frames, arms carried by said shaft, links connected with said arms and with said supporting members, and an oper- 1 ating lever for rocking said shaft to thereby vertically adjust said supporting members and said pans whereby said pan for cleaning liquid may be shifted at will into operative relation with said adhesive distributing roll to permit said gumming means to be cleaned by said cleaning liquid.

3. In a gumming machine of the kind described-the combination of gumming means including an adhesive distributing roll, side frames provided with vertical slots, vertically movable supporting members including horizontally extending sections, studs on said members extending into saidslots for guiding said supporting members in their vertical movements, flanges extending lengthwise of the horizontal sections of said supporting members and arranged to form spaced seats, a pan for adhesive supported upon said flanges for normally supplying said gumming means with adhesive, projections on said pan co-operating with said seats for removably fixing said pan in position on said supporting members, a pan for cleaning liquid slidably mounted on said adhesive containing pan, a rock shaft journalled in said side frames, arms carried by said shaft, links connected with said arms and with said supporting members, and an operating lever for rocking said shaft to thereby vertically adjust said supporting members 'and.

said pans whereby said pan for cleaning liquid may be shifted at will into operative relationwith said adhesive distributing roll to permit said gumming means to be cleaned by said cleaning liquid.

4. In a gumming machineof the kind'described, the combination of gumming means, vertically movable supporting members including horizontally extending sections, an adhesive containing pan removably carried by the horizontally extending sections of said supporting members and normally maintained thereby in operative relation to said gumming means, a pan for cleaning liquid movably mounted on said adhesive containing pan, adjusting means for vertically adjusting said supporting members to permit said pan for cleaning liquid to be shifted into operative relation with said gumming means to effect a cleaning of the latter, and releasable means for locking said adjusting means to prevent vertical movement of said supporting members.

5. In a gumming machine, the combination of side frames each provided with spacedvertical slots, gumming means including an adhesive distributing roll, a container for adhesive, a container for cleaning liquid, one of said containers being movably carried by the other, suspending means including horizontally extending sections GEORGE w. voN HOFE. 

